Journey Across the Impossible: Music with Silent Film
The Black Imp – Rob Buckland
The Dancing Pig – Andy Scott
The Acrobatic Fly – Rob Buckland
The New York Hat – Rob Buckland
The Birth of the Big Gun – Will Gregory
The Collapse of the Bridge over The Tacoma Narrows – Will Gregory
The Man with a Rubber Head – Carl Raven
The Infernal Cake-Walk – Jim Fieldhouse
Journey to the Moon – Jim Fieldhouse / Carl Raven
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend – Will Gregory
‘A unique virtuosic banquet’
– Classical Music Magazine
Quirky, thought-provoking and often bizarre, Journey Across the Impossible has been created by the award-winning Apollo Saxophone Quartet combining old silent film with enthralling new music. This captivating and intriguing programme is performed live by the quartet, without click tracks or any electronic synchronisation, re-creating the original ethos of performing music to accompany silent film, reacting and responding to the images on the screen in the absence of any dialogue.
Georges Melies’ Trio of Cinema Wonders features three experimental films from 1906: The Black Imp (which uses early freeze frame techniques to create the Imp’s magical powers), the witty and unforgettable The Dancing Pig and the slightly disturbing The Acrobatic Fly.The Collapse of the Bridge over the Tacoma Narrows is an early disaster movie using extraordinary archive and amateur footage and the comedic Dream of a Rarebit Fiend is a live-action film adaptation of the original comic strip by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. Mary Pickford, one of the most famous actors of the early silent film era, stars in the charming New York Hat depicting a tale of neighbourhood gossip in early 20th century USA.
Formed in 1985 at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Apollo Saxophone Quartet has been at the forefront of the contemporary music scene for over 35 years. They have generated the largest contribution to the saxophone quartet repertoire in the UK, commissioning and premiering over one hundred works, many of which have become core repertoire and are performed by quartets worldwide. Naturally innovative and exploratory, their bespoke projects include educational work and cross-genre collaborations. The group has recorded seven CDs of commissioned music including a DECCA (Argo) CD that reached number 3 in the classical charts.
‘The Quartet’s ensemble of Saxophone registers sounded as tight as fingers in a fist’
– The Independent
Facilities
- Bar
- Car Parking
- Disabled Accessibility
- On site parking
Accessibility Facilities
- Assistance dogs welcome
- Blue Badge Parking
- Wheel chair accessible
